Thrower had spent time in Rampton Hospital

Olive Garvie was repeatedly hit on the head with a flatiron, when she tried to usher May Thrower out of her room.

The pair were residents at Coniscliffe Residential Home, in Newcastle at the time of the February 2004 attack.

Thrower admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, at Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday.

The court heard how Thrower, who was charged with murder, was suffering from psychopathic illness at time.

Staff at the care home were unaware of her mental problems because her medical records were lost before she moved there.

It is clear from what I have been told today that the care home had no knowledge of your previous conviction for violence Judge David Hodson

Miss Garvie was found was lying slumped on the floor, with Thrower standing above, her hands covered in blood.

Miss Garvie had suffered at least 12 blows to the head with the iron, which was kept as an ornament in one of the home's reception rooms.

Thrower had picked it up during a late-night walk.

Miss Garvie, who moved into the home with her younger sister Margaret, was taken to Newcastle General Hospital, where she died three weeks later. She never regained consciousness.

Thrower, also unmarried, was arrested at the scene, and told police she walked into Miss Garvie's room by accident, and when Miss Garvie pushed her out, she returned with the iron.

It later emerged Thrower was treated at Rampton Hospital and spent 14 years in the 1950s and 1960s in hospitals.

In 1994, when aged 72, she attacked a neighbour with a chair leg and she was put on probation for two years for grievous bodily harm.

'Deeply tragic'

Judge David Hodson heard she was responding well to treatment at St Andrews Hospital, Northampton, since the attack.

It had been established there Thrower was suffering a psychopathic disorder.

She will be treated indefinitely at the secure unit following Thursday's judgement.

The judge said the case was deeply tragic.

He added: "It is clear from what I have been told today that the care home had no knowledge of your previous conviction for violence or of your periods at Rampton.

"How different things might have been had that information been available to them."

The court heard a statement from Miss Garvie's surviving sister, saying: "Olive's death has devastated me. We have spent all our lives together. I have lost my best friend, my sister, the only thing that I have left.